


Erasmus Emerges

by CadetDru



Category: Rusty Quill Gaming (Podcast)
Genre: Alcohol, Bite Marks Special, Canon-Typical Violence, Fixer - Freeform, Gen, Pack, Pre-Canon, Promotion, References to the Beatles, Werewolves
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-21
Updated: 2021-02-01
Packaged: 2021-03-12 14:34:20
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 5
Words: 2,617
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28886919
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/CadetDru/pseuds/CadetDru
Summary: Passion wasn’t necessarily a good trait for a pup to have.  Loyalty to the pack was. Erasmus was passionate and loyal to a fault.
Comments: 18
Kudos: 11





	1. underline

Passion wasn’t necessarily a good trait for a pup to have. Loyalty to the pack was. Erasmus was passionate and loyal to a fault. 

He was strong, in human or lupine form. Stronger than he looked and stronger than he had any right to be. He was good at defending the pack, at coordinating efforts. He didn’t have any goal to be Alpha or Howl. He didn’t want any specific role for himself. He just wanted what was best for everyone, and he often knew better than they did what “best” looked like. The pack was all.

As he took on more of the pack’s problems, as he found himself in communication with outsiders more and more, he was required to present as human. Erasmus wasn’t as useful of a name then. Mr. Smith was a useful name to use, with the benefit of being basically true.

Hemlock was the Fixer. Mr. Smith just ran along with him. Hemlock was slight of stature, charming and flirtatious with humans. He wasn't intimidating in the ways that Mr. Smith could be. Mr. Smith had been following Hemlock long enough to gauge his connections to the outside world. He was on the verge of going pet, had been circling around a specific human. No one cared about a relationship with a human; it wasn't a big enough problem for Mr. Smith to have to bring it to the Alpha's attention.

It was the new moon. They were getting ready to head out into the human world to check on various interests. They had a short itinerary of things that they wanted to accomplish once they got off the pack's property. 

Hemlock was still applying eyeliner at his vanity. Mr. Smith leaned against the wall, making what eye contact he could with Hemlock. Hemlock was too busy with cosmetic application to sustain it.

Mr. Smith moved to look at his own reflection. His head was fully shaved: no hair, no fur, nothing lupine while in human form. His clothes were simple, timeless, a black T-shirt and jeans because that was a human outfit he was vaguely familiar with. He seemed attractive enough in human form. It surprised him to see that in the mirror. He didn't think of himself as being able to have the same kind of presence that Hemlock did.

As he looked at the back of Hemlock's head, he thought of all the ways that he could just kill his packmate. Hemlock wasn't serving the pack any more, was only thinking of his own interests. Hemlock hadn't gone so far as jeopardizing the entire pack. Mr. Smith's anger was misplaced, misdirected. He was the one destabilizing the pack.

Hemlock turned and looked at him. "How do I look?"

Mr. Smith's lips formed "perfect as always" without his brain fully processing the question. He could have snapped Hemlock's neck. He could have stabbed him with a makeup pencil. He could have done so much, and it all would have been wrong. Mr. Smith shook his head. "Shall we go?"


	2. valley

Hemlock was seeing Lily, who Mr. Smith had assumed was a perfectly normal human. He'd never actually met her, hadn't followed Hemlock too closely.Mr. Smith, who tried to think of himself in human terms, had trusted Hemlock's judgment. Hemlock spent time talking sweetly to her.

The new moon was the first time that they had met face-to-face.Lily had to meet in public because they couldn't meet in private any more.Some circumstances of hers had changed. 

They were in a pub, surrounded by humans.As far as Mr. Smith was aware, he and Hemlock should have been the only werewolves present.There was another.Hemlock didn't seem worried, but that was why he had brought Mr. Smith.They each had a beer, each trying to full their senses as they were surrounded by humans. 

Just scent was more than enough, but the way she bared her teeth in a welcoming smile was enough to make Mr. Smith recoil. Lily was a werewolf who belonged to no pack. Mr. Smith's inefficient nose flared. He felt like he was going to be sick.He ran out of the pub to get some air.

Hemlock followed him like a good packmate, like a good Fixer."Erasmus?" Hemlock said, casually using the name Mr. Smith was trying to keep separate from humans.

Mr. Smith leaned against the wall, crouching and bent to keep his head betweeen his legs.He had to think clearly. "Do you know what I just smelled?" he asked, not looking up.

"Beer?" Hemlock said softly.

Mr. Smith took a deep breath.Exhaling, he stood up. He towered over Hemlock, looked down into his deep, dark eyes. "I respect you. You are a great Fixer and I am very grateful that you are letting me assist you with your duties.I know we are serving the greater good."

Hemlock gave a closed-lip smile, no hint of teeth to set Mr. Smith off.He was trying to manage Mr. Smith's emotions so carefully and transparently.He knew better than to try and provoke Mr. Smith.Mr. Smith recognized that, how obvious Hemlock was being, and felt some tension drain away.At least Hemlock was still trying.

Mr. Smith's body was straight and stilled.He was a sketch of a normal human man. "She's a werewolf," Mr. Smith said.

"I know," Hemlock said, trying to maintain an air of smiling.

"You know," Mr. Smith said flatly.He let the words ricochet in his head before continuing with increasing anger: "You know. You know? You know.Of course you know.Why wouldn't you know?"

"It's not a problem," Hemlock said.He moved his hand, almost laying it on Mr. Smith's forearm.

Mr. Smith drew away. "This is not how pack behaves," Mr. Smith said haughtily."I'm here to help you.I'm assisting you.You can't spring things on me.I could have killed her!"

Hemlock didn't answer. 

"Does she know?"

"Know what?" Hemlock said.Mr. Smith wanted to shake him, wanted to toss his crumpled form aside.

"That you're in a pack and not some ridiculous lone wolf?" Mr. Smith said, his voice creeping higher and higher."Is she joining our pack, then? Is she going to be one of us? Are you going to make an honest wolf out of her?"

"She has her own reasons," Hemlock said softly.

"Right. I'll ask her then." Mr. Smith walked back inside, Hemlock on his heels.

He kept his head high, shoulders back, did his best to look down at the rather petite Lily. "Who are you?"

"A friend of Hemlock's."

Mr. Smith's lip twitched. "Why.Why are you here? Why him?"

"If you're jealous, it's not anything serious," Lily said.

Mr. Smith felt more than heard Hemlock's resigned sigh. "We need to take you back to our Alpha."

The two laughed at him, barely a bit of sadness tinging Hemlock's laugh. "We--"

"I have a pack of two," Lily said."My husband is a wolf as well.We've been separated for a while and Hemlock has been such a dear friend. Which is why I can't possibly join your pack and why Hemlock can't tell your Alpha about me."

Mr. Smith quickly downed every beer available to him at their table.


	3. rocky

There was a knock at the front door of the house. Mr. Smith was the only one both free and in human form, so he answered it. A werewolf, also in human form, tried to storm in past him. Mr. Smith placed one hand on the stranger's chest, stepping out around him and shutting the door. "Hello," Mr. Smith said. "What are you here for?"

"I'm Gideon," the stranger said, looking around Mr. Smith. "I'm a friend of Hemlock's."

"I don't think I know you." Mr. Smith didn't move a muscle, except for the small twitch in his left cheek. Hemlock was the Fixer. Mr. Smith was not. He was overstepping, but Hemlock needed to be protected from the fallout of his own bad choices. "What pack are you with?" 

"I have no pack. My Lily and I stand alone."

The twitch moved faster. "And you have need of our Fixer?" Mr. Smith said. "Since you and this Lily are so very alone?" 

Gideon tilted his head. "What concern is it of yours?"

"Hemlock is my pack." Mr. Smith flashed his very bright and sharp smile. "I can help you." He walked out into the woods. 

As he'd hoped, Gideon followed a short ways behind him. Mr. Smith walked towards nothing in particular. He wanted Gideon to think that Mr. Smith was taking him to Hemlock.  Mr. Smith was not. He wasn't sure exactly what they were doing, just that he didn't want anyone else around.  Mr. Smith ignored Gideon's presence, just walking until he was out of sight of the house. He stopped walking, and turned to face Gideon. "Do you and Lily wish to join our pack?"

"No," Gideon laughed. He sneered. "Hemlock just needs to do a few things for me."

Mr. Smith's fists clenched. "I'm sure I'll end up doing them," he muttered.

Gideon's sneer faded into a smirk then a smile. "So you're the protege."

"I wouldn't say that," Mr. Smith said. He had been trying not to consider himself a replacement for Hemlock. He was running out of options.

Gideon looked Mr. Smith up and down, taking in the measure of the man. He stepped closer to Mr. Smith. "Where are we going?"

Mr. Smith's lips twitched in what could have been a fleeting smile.

Gideon stepped closer still. "You're afraid of me."

Mr. Smith put a hand on Gideon's shoulder. "Should I be afraid?" Gideon looked down at Mr. Smith's hand. Mr. Smith watched the stranger's face. Mr. Smith moved both hands to snap Gideon's neck. He let the body fall to the ground. 

He didn't have a plan, he'd acted out of a rush of fear. A one wolf (ridiculous concept though it was), had scared him and he just killed the man. 

He'd need to do something about the body, explain it somehow. He walked back to the house, mind racing to think of how to cover what he had done. 


	4. promising

Mr. Smith made connections with humans, liaisons who he could depend on for small favors. He could be himself around them, just as with his pack. It was easier to connect when he was himself. He smiled at them just as hungrily as he liked and thought about how easily he could tear them apart. The right kind of person seemed to like that smile. His kind of person. 

He didn't like driving, so he'd contact one of them if he had need of a private vehicle. He wouldn't ask them for anything too untoward. There wasn't a human alive that he would trust to help him bury a dead body. There were humans who had been alive that he would stage with a dead body. He tried to always be aware of the limitations before him.

Hemlock was becoming a problem. Mr. Smith had human acquaintances that he now trusted more than he trusted Hemlock. It made him sick to feel that way about one of his own pack. It was like an infection, something that was just polluting it all. It needed to be treated, it needed to be removed. 

He couldn't remove Hemlock like he'd removed Gideon. Killing Gideon hadn't made anything easier, hadn't even made Hemlock's romance any easier. Mr. Smith had ended up just burying the body himself. He didn't bother coming up with an alibi for Hemlock, a cover story for anyone. He just made the body disappear and let things lie from there. 

Hemlock was unsure of what to do. Hemlock was asking Mr. Smith for help. Hemlock was so close, closer with every conversation, to becoming a problem that Mr. Smith would have to solve. The two of them were getting too tangled together. Hemlock was slipping, and Mr. Smith kept having to cover for both of them in more ways than one.

hemlock snd Mr. Smith had a quiet chat as they walked through a different part of the woods, still isolated from everyone else. Mr. Smith hadn't brought a shovel with him. If he had, he could have talked Hemlock into digging a grave, then hit Hemlock so he fell into it. If Hemlock was still alive when Mr. Smith buried him, he wouldn't have been for much longer. Mr. Smith valued the pack too much to do that.

"You should run away with her," Mr. Smith said, interrupting Hemlock's circular narrative. He stopped walking. 

"What?" Hemlock said.

"Run away," Mr. Smith said. "What's keeping you here? You love her, she loves you, her husband's gone..."

"He'll come back," Hemlock said.

"Run away," Mr. Smith said. His tone of voice didn't change. 

"I love him," Hemlock confessed.

"Run away," Mr. Smith said, same clipped inflection as before. 

Hemlock shook his head. "We don't even know where he is."

"Run," Mr. Smith said. His voice was getting tighter. He clenched his fists at his sides. "You don't want to be here. You don't want to be part of the pack. You need to leave, now, before it becomes more evident. Before someone besides me notices. I can't keep covering for you. I can't protect you from yourself. You need to run."

"I'm not just another 'problem' for you to solve," Hemlock sneered. "I know how you like to fix things. You think you're cleaning up my messes, don't you?"

"Run away while you can, Hemlock."

Hemlock laughed and started to walk away. Mr. Smith easily caught up with him, just by walking quickly. He was getting more and more comfortable in his human form. "I can tie up all your loose ends," he said softly. "We're friends, Hemlock. I can make sure you and Lily get away safely. Or I can bleed both of you dry and make sure no one ever finds the bodies. But that wouldn't happen if you were still pack. If you left soon enough."

"Are you threatening me?" Hemlock laughed, not looking at Mr. Smith. He was trying to hide his unease. He stank of fear, he wasn't reacting to Mr. Smith like a werewolf. He was acting like they were both human. 

"I'm just telling you my plans and contingencies," Mr. Smith said, trying to sound reassuring."It's not a threat if it's a backup plan, is it?"

"Yes, it absolutely is."

"Oh," Mr. Smith said. He hadn't considered it like that. "Then I suppose I am."

They walked in silence.


	5. departing

Mr. Smith could never hurt Hemlock. Hemlock would always be part of the pack, no matter how far he ran. That didn't mean that Mr. Smith had to tell Hemlock that he was still protected, that Mr. Smith wouldn't hesitate to kill for him.

Hemlock did the smart thing and ran. He thought Mr. Smith was a threat and he did the only sensible thing in the face of that threat.

Mr. Smith did what he did best, and covered for Hemlock. Hemlock was scouting for the pack, was attending to business outside their normal boundaries deep undercover.Mr. Smith was the new Fixer. No one was going to question it. It was just how things were going to be, how they always had been.

He'd would never try to be the Alpha. Never try to be the Howl or the Enforcer. He was skilled for it all, would excel at any of it. He'd never reach out for those specific responsibilities because he knew what was needed and they needed him just as he was.


End file.
